Chico State Experts Reveal Sheriff's ACS Program on Track

Wednesday

Oct 3, 2012 at 12:01 AM

The team of Chico State professors and criminal justice interns working with the Butte County Sheriff’s Office to evaluate the Sheriff’s Alternative Custody Supervision (ACS) program released its initial report at the September 19, 2012, meeting of Butte County’s Community Corrections Partnership. The preliminary report indicates that the Sheriff’s ACS program is on track and showing promise. The report also makes recommendations for overall improvement of the program, which are being implemented.

The team of Chico State professors and criminal justice interns working with the Butte County Sheriff’s Office to evaluate the Sheriff’s Alternative Custody Supervision (ACS) program released its initial report at the September 19, 2012, meeting of Butte County’s Community Corrections Partnership. The preliminary report indicates that the Sheriff’s ACS program is on track and showing promise. The report also makes recommendations for overall improvement of the program, which are being implemented.

The Sheriff’s ACS program was established to help mitigate the impacts of AB 109 on the Butte County Jail, while at the same time serving the interests of public safety. Correctional Deputies and Deputy Sheriffs assigned to the ACS program oversee offenders removed from the jail and placed on home detention. Prior to being placed on the ACS program, offenders are assessed to determine the level of risk they would pose to public safety if placed on home detention. If the risk is determined to be reasonable, and the offender meets other program requirements he or she may be accepted into the program. Offenders in the program are required to wear electronic ankle bracelets that help deputies monitor the location of the offenders. The offenders are not allowed to leave their homes without permission and are only allowed to go to locations authorized by the deputies in advance. Offenders in the program are required to attend classes designed to reduce recidivism, which are held at the Sheriff’s Day Reporting Center. The deputies conduct regular unannounced home visits to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of the program. The Sheriff’s Office is able to supervise the offenders in the ACS program for approximately $20 per day, as opposed to the approximately $90 a day it costs to keep an offender incarcerated in the jail.

Currently, there are 107 offenders in the ACS program. Since its inception, a total of 261 offenders have been placed on the program. Of that total, 88 offenders have successfully completed their sentences and have been discharged, 66 offenders were returned to the jail for program violations. Of the 66 offenders who were returned to the jail, 13 of them removed their ankle bracelet and left their homes without permission. All 13 of those offenders who left their homes without permission were recaptured and returned to the jail, to face escape charges. Upon conviction, those offenders are eligible for a commitment to State prison.

Sheriff Jerry W. Smith said, “I am encouraged by the initial finding in this report. It demonstrates that our approach is valid and gives us recommendations which we will use to improve the program. I want to thank the other members of the Community Corrections Partnership for their support and my staff for their diligent efforts in building this program forms the ground up. I also wish to express my gratitude to the professors and students of Chico State who are working with my office on this project.”

The Chico State report entitled “Breaking Ground: Preliminary Report of Butte County Sheriff’s Alternative Custody Program” can be viewed on the Butte County Sheriff’s Office website – (www.buttecounty.net/SheriffCoroner). The media release issued by Chico State is reprinted below for convenience:

A team of California State University, Chico State political science professors and criminal justice interns released a preliminary report this week with results that suggest that the Butte County Sheriff’s Alternative Custody Supervision (ACS) program shows several promising trends for public safety and rehabilitation. The Butte County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) developed and implemented the ACS program to manage the massive influx of county prisoners generated by California’s 2011 Realignment Legislation Addressing Public Safety Act (AB109). Fr the rest of this story, please pick up a 10/3/12 edition of The Gridley Herald.